


Knock

by scrollgirl



Category: Agent Carter (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Captain America (Movies), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Stargate (1994), Stargate SG-1
Genre: Bechdel Test Pass, Crossover, Fierce Old Ladies, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-05
Updated: 2013-01-05
Packaged: 2017-11-23 18:13:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 583
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/625158
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scrollgirl/pseuds/scrollgirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Opportunity comes knocking in the form of Peggy Carter, Director of SHIELD, and Catherine decides to open the door.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Knock

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by eryr-efydd's observation that Peggy Carter and Catherine Langford were contemporaries. [Originally posted on my tumblr.](http://scrollgirl.tumblr.com/post/39737461857/catherine-langford-stargate#notes)

_Arlington, Virginia - 1989_

Catherine fumed quietly outside the Pentagon office where she’d been left to cool her heels for the past three hours. It was clear General McManus had no intention of reviewing her project proposal this afternoon, or any afternoon in the near future. This had been a wasted trip, another door slammed in her face.

"You look in desperate need of a good cup of tea," said someone standing directly behind her. Catherine spun around and found a woman about her age, steel-grey hair in a neat bun, dressed in a dark suit—a civilian, though her military bearing belied that assumption. The woman smiled at her, red-lipped and kind. "Or perhaps you'd prefer something a little stronger?"

Catherine blinked in confusion. "I'm sorry, have we met?"

"We have not," the woman replied, "though I've become well acquainted with your file, Miss Langford, as well as the files related to the Egyptian artefact that your father unearthed on the Giza plateau in 1928."

"Your clearance level is higher than mine, then," muttered Catherine, not a little bitterly. "I've been reliably informed by more than one Air Force general that I don't know what I do, in fact, know."

"Yes, well, the nature of the business, I'm afraid." The woman at least had the decency to look apologetic about it.

"I'm sorry," Catherine said again, "but who _are_ you?"

"Peggy Carter, Director of the Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement and Logistics Division. As McManus has proved to be the unreliable sort, I offer myself in his stead as a far more suitable political ally, and with fairly deep pockets into the bargain."

Catherine was an academic and a dreamer, and she'd built a career chasing myths and mysteries. Still, the last two decades of her life have been dedicated to petitioning administration after administration for permission to revive a project that had been mothballed at the height of World War Two. She was well-acquainted with narrow-minded, short-sighted men like McManus and she was nobody’s fool.

If something looked too good to be true, it likely _was_. "And what would you expect from me in return?" she asked warily. "If you're under the impression that my research has any military applications--"

The other woman put up a hand, cutting her off. "That's phase two, and not what I'm concerned with at the moment. Phase one is simply to get the artefact operational. Open that door. See what's on the other side."

Catherine's breath caught in her throat. "Do you really think there's something there?"

"It's a door, isn't it? Why build a door if not to go through?"

"Just like that?" Scepticism was not in her nature, but Catherine had found it useful over the years. "The device has already claimed a life."

"You're not the only woman to have lost a lover to war and impossible science, Langford." The director's eyes darkened briefly with old sorrows. "There are always risks, of course, but I'm prepared to offer the funding and political support you need to get the project off the ground. I'm offering you the opportunity to study this artefact and perhaps find some answers for yourself."

Catherine straightened her spine. "I don't do what I do for myself."

"Nor do I," Director Carter replied. She pivoted on her heels and began walking briskly towards the nearest exit.

Catherine stared after her, caught in indecision.

"Keep up, Langford!"

 _For science_ , thought Catherine, bucking herself up, then hurried her old bones to catch up.


End file.
